APRIL | MAY 2012

At one time, the classical Doric columns were painted white and stood guard at the front entrance to an antebellum mansion in South Carolina. Salvaged and restored, they now support the spiral staircase in the main building. Steel stair stringers and rails appear warm with a gunmetal finish.

The romance of the Old South evokes the architectural imagery of grand estates with dignified columns and sweeping balconies. But here on Spring Island, a 3,000-acre island in the South Carolina low country, some dwellings appear more as organic products of the woods rather than grandiose antebellum abodes. The exclusive community, which maintains nearly half of the islands acreage as a nature preserve, is touted as an ideal home for those who come not to be seen, but to behold. Jim and Betsy Chaffin, the developers of the community, are those who come to behold. Wanting to respect and preserve the natural beauty of the Spring Island landscape, the couple employed architect Jim Thomas, principal of Charleston-based Thomas & Denzinger Architects, to create their personal residence, which became affectionately known as the Chaffin Rivercamp. Thomas brought their dream to fruition in 2004 with the substantial contributions of his junior partner, architect Joel Newman, and local builders Mike Reynolds and Kraig Minkler.

FROM FAR LEFT: The space-defining trellis merges with the exterior walls of the home to create an art gallery. As seen on the fireplace, the interior walls are treated with a rough tabby-like finish. From the tower, the homeowner can appreciate the view and keep a watchful eye.

Set on ten wooded, waterfront acres, the home is thoughtfully divided into three smaller buildings: the main home, a guest house, and a carport with an art studio. The arrangement, which mimics a riverside village settlement while maintaining the integrity of the natural landscape, is connected by a defining wood trellis. The trellis defines a quadrangle on the forest floor, says Thomas, creating a human sense of place within what seems like formless nature. Because the property is much larger than the occupied area, the trellis provides a definitive and practical boundary without excluding the forest. It is a porous, transparent edge inviting the natural vegetation to grow and climb inside the compound it defines, says Thomas. While serving as an edge, it also ties the house and the forest together. It ties inside and outside together. It ties man and nature together. In an unusual unifying twist, the trellis merges with the exterior walls of the buildings and creates a narrow art gallery in the main home. The trellis maintains a consistent frame by connecting with all the buildings and continues through the main home to set a spatial frame for the gallery. Although the art gallery is protected from the elements with large window panes, the structure and ceiling are consistent with the exterior trellis, creating an uninterrupted component to the home. The gallery features smaller pieces of art and includes spotlights to illuminate the works in the evening; however, special attention was paid to natural lighting throughout the home, evident with the multitude of windows. The way we brought indirect sunlight into the house was a very important aspect of the design, says Thomas. In semitropical locations like South Carolina, sunlight has to be very carefully manipulated. Here, Thomas was faced with the dilemma of maintaining the integrity of the site while marrying the demands of a humid location, which can become too warm with intense direct sunlight, and a heavily wooded area, which has the potential to be gloomy. The shed roofs over the living room, which slope in one direction only, are positioned to receive a maximum of northern exposure, which brings good illumination but no direct sunlight when used with deep roof overhangs, says Thomas. Thus the clerestory glass below the shed roofs brings into the house a relatively greater amount of northern light, which is good for artwork and provides a cooler living ambience in this tropical setting. The vaulted living room receives the ideal amount of sunlight to showcase the homes unique interior architectural details. The ceilings wood beams are made from recycled heart pine, which is also used for the flooring and in the columns that support the spiral staircase. The Doric columns are salvaged from an antebellum mansion in Beaufort, South Carolina, and restored to their classical glory. The oval shape of the spiral staircase facilitates easy movement between the living room and kitchen, separating yet unifying the spaces.

ABOVE: The staircase directs the flow of traffic from one open living space to another. Although the home sits on a heavily wooded site with live oaks and palmettos, it is adjacent to an open tidal river. From the circular driveway, any part of the Chaffin Rivercamp is easily accessible, and the opening between the buildings frames a dramatic view.

Although difficult to capture in photographs, the tabby-like interior wall finish is a detailed nod to the history of local structures. Tabby, says Thomas, is a primitive form of concrete made with sand, water, and baked oyster shells that was used in the region by early settlers. A tribute to this material, the walls were made of masonry and coated with sand and cement plaster mixed with oyster-shell fragments, pottery shards, and bones of small creatures found on the site. A myriad of traditional and unconventional elements ultimately brings this home together. The namelessness of this style is a quality which pleases me, but it frustrates the owners and others, says Thomas. An artist once wrote that once you can give a name to something, you stop really looking at it. So this inspiring property, incorporating regional history, reverence for nature, and modern lines, may lack a clear architectural identity, but it continues to evolve quietly with the land, sitting below live oaks and among palmettos, as the Chaffin Rivercamp.
Bo Kauffmann, REALTOR, ABR
Direct: 204-255-4204 Cell: 204-333-2202 bokauffmann@remax.net bokauffmann.com

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